Earlier this year, I shared a bunch of books that I was looking forward to reading in 2024. There were 24 books (and trilogies and series…) I hoped to read this year and now that we’re in Q2 of 2024, I thought I would offer an update.
A little over a quarter into 2024, I’ve read 6 books from my original list and have 18 left to go so I’m a little behind schedule… here’s my progress so far:
Read
- The Great Book of Journaling by Eric Maisel and Lynda Monk. One of my annual goals is to dive back into a more regular journaling practice this year. I happened upon this book recently and it seemed like the perfect fit. I loved the different contributors who shared chapters on a range of journaling types.
- You Need a Manifesto by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn. Organizing my annual goals around my radical self-trust framework this year reminded me how helpful it’s been to create that set of principles for myself. This book was a great tool to deepen my reflection around how I document my purpose and direction.
- A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer Armentrout. This is the second-to-last book in a six-book series by this author (a new one just came out in the last couple of months). I have really been enjoying the series and the crazy twists and turns that she is building in throughout each book. This book was a retelling of book 1 from another character’s perspective and I really enjoyed it.
- The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. This is one of those books that I have seen recommended far and wide by very diverse readers (i.e. people who are reading in different genres). The general storyline is a back-and-forth plot between a present day woman who is processing a possible break up with her partner and a historical figure who mixes poisons for women to use against the men in their lives. I can see why this one was so popular because the weaving of past and present was a great way to tell this set of stories.
- The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen. I’ve really enjoyed this author’s mystery books so when I saw that she was branching out into spy fiction I was among the first in line to pick this up. This is the first in a series about retired women spies and the first couple chapters had me laughing out loud. I’ll definitely pick up other books in this series.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Someone on social media called this their favorite audio book ever and I’ve been wanting to read it ever since. It’s the story of an apocalyptic event that causes most people to die, but the remaining people are dropped into a kind of video game that is being broadcast for people to watch. The sound engineering of the audio book was amazing and I’ve already recommended this to a couple of friends who are into gaming.
Up Next (books on my list to read in the next month or two)
- Widen the Window by Elizabeth Stanley. The older I get the more important I find it to learn about my own personal methods for increasing my resilience. I also am constantly on the look out for tools that I can employ the increase the resilience of my coaching clients. I’m hoping this book gives me ideas in both of these areas.
- The Last Astronaut by David Wellington. I’m a sucker for alien-encounter space books and this one seems like the plot is headed in that direction. I’ve had this on my to-read pile for quite some time and I’ve also never read this author before.
- Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu. I have heard such amazing things about this book and it’s sequel, so I’m looking forward to picking it up and seeing what I think. I’m not even really sure what the plot is, but I love an immersive read, especially if it’s been hyped by reviewers that I trust.
Unread
- Experiments in Reflection by Leticia Britos Cavagnaro. Similar to the book on journaling above, this seemed like a good fit for my goals this year. I love a little playful experimentation and I’m hoping this book offers me some good experiments to try!
- The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (3 books). I’ve had this trilogy on my list for a very long time and I hope this is the year that I get to it. I have read and enjoyed several other books by this author (including some set in the world of this trilogy), so this will be fun to read when I can get to it.
- The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin (3 books). I read the first book in this trilogy years ago and really enjoyed it. It’s a zombie-themed series, and since I haven’t read one of those in a while, 2024 seems like the perfect time to get back to that sub-genre.
- The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb (3 books). Robin Hobb is one of those prolific authors that I want to read more of. I’ve read one of her books so far just to get a feel for her writing, but she has a vast set of trilogies and series books and according to this post, this trilogy is a good place to start.
- The Will of the Many by James Islington. A mystery set in a dark academic setting? Sign me up.
- The Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne (4 books). I saw a raving review of this entire series by a YouTuber that I follow and I’ve been thinking about reading it ever since. I think I’ll need the audio books for this series since it tops 2,800 pages altogether.
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve been slowly working my way through this author’s backlist and this is the next book on my list. Everyone seems to love this book, so I have high hopes for this one.
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. This sprawling book clocking in at over 700 pages is another one of the chunksters that I hope to read this year. I have it in ebook and audio book formats, so no sore wrists for me.
- Age of Vice by Deepit Kapoor. Another long (500+ pages) book with rave reviews. This is a crime thriller set in India and I don’t read as much internationally-set fiction as I’d like so this was an easy one to add to my 2024 list.
- Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anondea Judith. I’ve known about this book for a while from my yoga and meditation studies and I have it in hard copy. However, getting a deal on the audio book was what pushed me to pick this one up sooner rather than later. I read most long nonfiction (this one is almost 500 pages) on audio.
- The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman. This is another book that I have in hard copy, but was also able to get on audio. I’ve dipped in an out of this book over time, but would like to read the whole thing. (This is also a book that I recommend to my Slow Hustle participants.)
- Academia Next by Bryan Alexander. Another long-overdue read. I enjoy reading about futurism and this is a canonical work on the future of higher ed that I’ve been meaning to read for a while now.
- The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. I’ve heard so many positive things about this book. It’s about an older woman who retired from being a pirate, but is called back to the sea for one last adventure to save a kidnapped girl. Sounds like so much fun.
- The Red Rising saga by Pierce Brown (currently 6 books). The first book in this series was recommended to me by my Denver realtor over two years ago. Since then, I’ve seen others enjoying the series as well. It’s time to get it kicked off and see what I think.
- The Sword of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks (3 books). My in-laws gifted me this trilogy for the holidays this year and I have fond memories of reading this when I was about 11 years old. I don’t remember much other than a general vibe, so revisiting this series should be really enjoyable.
What have you loved reading so far this year? What’s still on your TRB pile?
